Tom Davenport, the pilot of the Continental Airlines hot air balloon, surveys the landscape for a safe place to land during the Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, Saturday, July 25, 2009, at Solberg airport in Readington. (Photo: JASON TOWLEN/MyCentralJersey Staff)

Readington - From left, Ev Eaton, 89, of Warren, gets to check off an item on his bucket list with this balloon ride with his daughter, Sandie Walsh of Ayre, Massachusetts, and fellow passenger Jill Wein of Manalapan aboard the balloon Reflections, piloted by Jim Regan, which operates out of Connecticut. The QuickCheck New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport on Sunday, July 28, 2013. (Photo: A.F. Menezes/Staff Photographer)

The 30th annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning opened Friday, July 27, 2012 at Solberg-Hunterdon Airport. Pat Sawyer of Taiwo-S Crafts folds bandaias that she will sell along the midway. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan/MyCentralJersey)

27th annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning held at Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ, the largest summertime hot air balloon and music festival in North America. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan)

The 30th annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning opened up July 27, 2012 for their event held at Solberg-Hunterdon Airport. Vendors were still setting up, as this one has a truck load of blow up dolls to unload. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan/MyCentralJersey)

The 30th annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg-Hunterdon Airport. Day two of the Festival started at 6:30 a.m. July 28, 2013 with the mass inflation of nearly 100 hot air balloons. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan/MyCentralJersey)

The 28th Annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning was held at the Solberg Airport in Readington/Whitehouse Station. Up to 125 hot air balloons took skyward during the early morning hours on Sunday July 25, 2010. One of the members of the Red Bull Air Force team parachutes into the in field during the opening of the event. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan/MyCentralJersey)

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"The incredible thing is we have about 100 or so balloons in ... two-by-four canvas bags where they pull the balloons out of," said Freeman of the fest's five balloon mass ascensions. "They get inflated and they heat up and they get up to eight to 12 stories high. There are all these characters and in half an hour they're painting a picture in the sky."

"We say, 'You won't believe your sky.' You have to be there to see how magnificent it is."

More than 150,000 are expected to attend the 32nd annual Festival of Ballooning Friday, July 25 through Sunday, July 25 at Solberg Airport in Readington.

The 31st annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ

There will be more than 100 balloons rolling over the hills of Hunterdon County in all shapes and sizes. Participating balloons include the PNC American Flag balloon, an 85-foot-tall Angry Birds balloon, a 100-foot-tall colorful hummingbird, a 100-foot-tall Unique Photo panda bear, a 3 Wise Monkeys balloon and a Pepsi football balloon.

The mass hot-air balloon ascensions take place 6:30 p.m. Friday, and 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Rides in the balloons are available, but it's best to check ahead of time via at www.balloonfestival.com or 800-HOT-AIR9 to see if there's still carriage space available. Tethered rides are available all weekend.

Of course, the balloon rides depend upon the weather.

"When someone sees the ascension at 6:30 a.m., they then want to go up at 6:30 p.m.," Freeman said. "You can take a tethered ride without having to go up, up and away."

32nd annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning held at Solberg Airport in Readington. STAFF VIDEO BY MARK R. SULLIVAN

Now, in recognition of this year's Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, we present the Top 5 movies on lighter-than-air travel, in no particular order:

UP (2009)

Edward Asner is the voice of Carl Fredrickson, a widower who latches thousands of helium balloons into his house to fly to South America and adventure. The Disney/Pixar heartfelt production received five Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture.

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" The Wizard (Frank Morgan) offers Dorothy (Judy Garland) a ride from Oz to Kansas in a balloon, yet Toto jumps out, leaving Dorothy stranded in the land of the Emerald City.

SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (1978)

Those who appreciate the often maligned "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie view it as a sort of merging "Yellow Submarine" with Ken Russell's "Tommy." It starred the Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees along with a host of other '70s-era leading lights. There's a balloon ride over Los Angeles and a stirring moment when Sgt. Pepper, as played by "Fifth Beatle" Billy Preston, comes back to life to sing "Get Back." To we who were second generation Beatles fans and missed Bealtemania, this was our Ed Sullivan moment.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956)

David Niven plays Jules Verne's dashing Brit Phileas Fogg in this travelogue epic. It seems like everybody who was anybody in the '50s makes an appearance here, except for Elvis. Frank Sinatra, Noël Coward, Edward R. Murrow, Sir John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Cesar Romero, Ronald Colman, Joe E. Brown, Peter Lorre, George Raft, Red Skelton, Marlene Dietrich and many more make cameos. Some of the post-colonial castings makes one wince -- Shirley MacLaine as an Indian princess and the Mexican comedian Cantinflas as a Frenchman. But we love that balloon, especially when Niven and Cantinflas swoop down to the Alps to scoop up snow to chill a bottle of champagne.

We'll toast to its five Oscars, including Best Picture.

THE HINDENBURG (1975)

Not to bust anyone's balloon or anything, but the flight — and unfortunate, er, landing — of the Hindenburg in 1937 has long transfixed New Jerseyans, and for good reason. The last of the airships crashed in Lakehurst in a spectacular inferno that was captured by news cameras — but no one has come up with an answer as to exactly why it crashed. 1975's "The Hindenberg" tries to provide answers and it certainly does provide the stars — George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Gig Young, Burgess Meredith, Charles Durning and more are aboard.

INFO: Carriage in one of the 10 balloons at the fest's five mass ascensions are $225 per person in the morning, $250 in the evening. Tickets can be purchased online at www.balloonfestival.com or by calling 1-800-HOT-AIR9. Advanced purchase is strongly suggested as space is limited/

Tethered rides are available for $20 per person and can be e purchased at the Balloon Ride Tent adjacent to the Balloon Launch Field during the festival.